47. Asher
Asher
Quinn
Noah do you need a ride to The Evermont?
Noah
Why am I being called out?
Oli
Because it’s snowing and taking your bike would kill you.
Quinn
OLI. THOSE ARE BAD VIBES ON MY WEDDING DAY.
Jaxson
Technically it’s your wedding day tomorrow. It’s just the rehearsal dinner tonight.
Knight
We are not going to pick up Noah on the way to our wedding Quinn.
Sutton
Ash and I can go pick him up. We have to get Iris anyway.
Noah
Guys. I have my own car for fucks sake.
Me
If my daughter says a swear word because of you I will pummel you to the ground.
Will
Yikes. Daddy Ash is mad.
Sutton
Please never call him that.
Quinn
We’ll just get her a swear jar, kid will be rich before she turns six.
Me
She’s already rich.
Oli
When did Ash contribute so much to these group texts?
Jaxson
It’s because Sutton is here.
Will
He mostly just threatens us.
Noah
It’s his love language.
“I’m serious, Sutton. I’ll ban him from the house,” I grunted as she just laughed.
We were at the rehearsal dinner, which basically had the same amount of people as the wedding and was just another reason for us to hang out.
All the guys were here, of course, plus Jane, Henry, and Emma.
There was Knight’s driver, Arthur, and his wife, and Knight’s assistant, Shelly.
Quinn’s mom, Karen, was here with her boyfriend from Italy.
Quinn’s friend Aubrey was here along with her parents.
A man that Quinn used to work with before she worked at the foundation was here too.
I’d been told his name but had forgotten it.
They had rented out the whole place for the weekend.
They would have done it at the private club but it wasn’t open yet and they didn’t want to wait.
Despite the light skiff of snow, the beautiful October colors were visible through the window.
All the changing leaves still clung to the trees and the larches still held their golden color.
They would likely change back to green in a week or so.
Sutton was beaming. She was wearing this stunning pink dress and had taken my breath away when she stepped out of our bathroom.
Sophie had been down for dinner and my girl was passed around, mostly between Jane, Iris, and Henry.
But she was popular and basking in the attention, though whenever she saw me, she would reach for me.
After a quick hug, her calling me dada and then patting my face, she was always okay to be passed off.
This girl had me completely at her mercy.
Iris had been invited by Quinn. She was happy to attend but declared that she was on Sophie duty. So when Sophie was ready for bed, Iris took her upstairs and was spending the night with her so we could relax. It was a nice bonus that we would get the room to ourselves tonight.
I’d been trying to get Sutton to leave with me and head to our room since the moment Sophie was down but she would just laugh and rest her hand on my bicep.
I grumbled about it but I honestly wasn’t trying too hard.
Sutton loved my people, and I loved that she had them.
She’d mentioned she’d never been to a wedding so I wasn’t going to rush this for her.
“She knows one word, mate. You’ve got some time for us to clean up our act.” Oli patted my shoulder sympathetically.
“Two,” I corrected. “She called Sutton Mama yesterday.” I looked over at Sutton proudly as I grabbed her hand and placed a kiss there while she smiled.
I’d gotten up with Soph so Sutton could have a little bit longer in bed.
When she came into the kitchen, I had Sophie in her chair so she could watch me cook and get Sutton’s coffee ready.
Sophie had heard her voice, looked over at her, smiled, and screamed, “Mama.” Sutton started crying and I might have gotten teary too.
It was a special moment that I was honored to have witnessed.
My life was something I’d never pictured.
I’d never given much thought to having a kid around, and I was blown away by how much I couldn’t live without her now.
I was going to make sure that she knew she was loved every single day for the rest of my life.
She would never wonder, never question whether her dad loved her.
Because I fully intended to be that for her.
Sutton and I filed the paperwork to kickstart the process of adopting her earlier this week and once that was through we would be adding my name to the birth certificate as the father.
She would never know we were apart for nine months.
I would be the man that loved her from the start, the only father she would ever know.
“Can we circle back to having at least a best man if there isn’t a wedding party?”
“Noah.” Knight shook his head with an exasperated look. This was not the first time he’d had this conversation.
“What? I just want to know who you would have chosen. You could at least tell me that.”
“Are you sure you want to ask that?” Oli pushed up his glasses and raised an eyebrow, his eyes darting to me.
“Asher wouldn’t have been Knight’s best man.” Quinn looked over at me. I tilted my head, waiting for her to go on.
“Cause it would have been me.” Will smirked as Noah glared at him.
“It’s because Asher would have stood on my side.” Everyone’s eyes went to me at Quinn’s statement.
“Of course I would’ve been on your side, Q.” I heard Sutton let out a sigh as she pressed a kiss to my cheek. Guess she liked that answer. “You’re my sister.”
“Wait.” Noah held up a hand, looking between Quinn and me. “Can I be on your side, Q?”
“Wow, dropped Knight fast.” Jaxson shook his head on a laugh.
“Does that mean Oli, Jaxson, and I can play rock-paper-scissors for it?” Will asked.
“And this is why we didn’t have a wedding party.” Quinn shook her head at the arguing.
Sutton snorted. “Yeah and because half the attendants would be standing up with you.”
“I will play rock-paper-scissors so we never have to talk about this again.” Knight shot his hand up.
“Done!” Noah smirked, shaking his hand out before making a fist.
These people were insane. But they were mine.
As Sutton laughed at Noah, her hand resting on my thigh, my chest expanded.
I loved her with every piece of my heart.
Something I’d never experienced with another person.
Every day was better with her in it. I’d thought she was a puzzle I needed to solve, but it turned out she was the missing piece I didn’t know I was looking for.
She accepted me for who I was—even my grumpy, quiet, and sullen moments. No push to change. No expectation to be anything other than myself.
I didn’t have words for what that felt like. Being loved exactly as you were.
She was my peace.